Motor grader mold board attachment



N0V- 29, 1956 E. aHoPKlNs 3,287,34

v l y MOTOR GRADER MOLD BOARD ATTACHMENT Filed April 6, 1964 2 Sheets-Sheet l ATToQ/VEV Nov. 29, 1966 E. G. HOPKINS 3,287,834

MOTOR GRADER MOLD BOARD ATTACHMENT Filed April 6, 1964 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 P lll" fic/@fw ATMP/v5? United States Patent O 3,287,834 MOTOR GRADER MLD BOARD ATTACHMENT Eithei S. Hopkins, Des Moines, Iowa (E. 7th and Main, Clarinda, Iowa) Filed Apr. 6, 1964, Ser. No. 357,489 3 Claims. (Cl. 37-156) This invention relates generally to a motor grader, and particularly to an attachment of the rotary type for making the grader more universal in use.

It is well known that a motor grader is provided with a mold board for scraping and grading to elevation roadways. It is also well known that other vehicles are provided, for example one with a rotary sweeper or brush for sweeping leaves and other refuse off the streets. Thirdly, a vehicle is provided with a roller for compacting gravel, asphalt and the like. To provide a motor grader with the capability of performing all three of the above designated functions, namely scraping, sweeping and rolling, is a principal object of this invention.

It is another object of this invention to provide an improved motor grader.

It is yet another object of this invention to provide a new and novel attachment for the mold board of a motor grader for enabling the grader to scrape, sweep and roll the surface of a roadway.

Still another object of this invention is to provide a new and novel bracket structure for attaching either a rotary brush or a rotary roller to the mold board of a motor grader for enabling the grader to sweep or roll as desired.

Yet another object of this invention is to provide a bracket structure for attaching a rotary brush or roller to the mold board of a motor grader, wherein one man can mount and demount the attachment to the road grader in a relatively short period of time.

It is yet another object of this invention to provide a bracket attachment for removably supporting a brush or a roller to the mold board of a motor grader, and which attachment is provided with its own power source for rotating the brush or the roller if desired, and further wherein the attachment can be supplied with hydraulic power from the motor grader to rotate the brush.

It is another object of this invention to provide an attachment capable of attaining the above designated objectives, which is simple but rugged, economical to manufacture, effective in use, and which requires a nominal maintenance.

These objects, and other features and advantages of this invention will readily be ascertained upon reference to the following description, when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a road grader with the attachment of this invention for supporting a brush mounted thereon;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged side elevational view of the attachment of this invention;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged perspective view of an opposite end of the attachment of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is an elevational view taken along the line 4-4 in FIG. 2;

FIG. 5 is an enlarged view of a detail of the invention, seen along the line 5-5 in FIG. 2;

FIG. 6 is a sectional view taken along the line 6 6 in FIG. 5;

FIG. 7, is a perspective view of the road grader of FIG. l, with the attachment of this invention being utilized to rotatably support a roller to the meid board of the road grader;

FIG. 8 is an elevational view of the attachment of FIG. 7; and

3,287,834 Patented Nov. 29, 1966 ICC FIG. 9 is a perspective view taken from one end of the attachment of FIGS. 7 and 8.

Referring now to particularly FIGS. 1-6, the bracket attachment of this invention is indicated generally at 10 in FIG. 1, and is provided for rotatably mounting a sweeper or brush 11 on a conventional motor grader 12. The bracket attachment 10 is mounted on the outer ends of a mold board 13 by means of a pair of substantially identical brackets 14 and 16.

As the brackets 14 and 16 are identical, only one will be described with like reference numerals indicating alike parts thereof. Each bracket comprises a pillow block unit 17 which is held in place for rotatably supporting the stub shaft 18 at each end of the brush 11 by an upper arm 19 and a lower arm 21. The upper arm 19 is supported by a pair of brace plates 20 in a stationary manner to the pillow block unit 17, whereas the lower arm 21 is hingeably connected by a shaft 22 to the pillow block unit 17.

Both outer ends of the arms 19 and 21 are provided with clamping means in the form of a pair of spaced inner and outer projections 23 and 24, each pair of projections of which are adapted to engage the respective upper and lower edges 15 and 25 of the mold board 13. Each outer projection 24 is provided with a pair of clamp bolts 26 threadable therethrough for frictionally engaging the respective edges of the mold board 13.

The arms 19 and 21 are adjustably held in a predetermined relationship relative to each other by means of an adjusting unit which includes a shaft 27 (FIG. 3) which has one end 28 threaded and inserted through the opening 29 formed in the upper arm 19, and supported by means of a pair of right angle members 31. The lower end of the shaft 27 is secured to a yoke 32 which in turn is pivotally connected to a tongue 33 mounted on the lower arm 21. A pivot pin 34 is provided for pivotally connecting the yoke 32 and the tongue 33. The arms 19 and 21 are secured in spaced relation by means therefor of the adjusting unit, and held in the spaced relation by a nut 36 (FIG. 3) which is threaded onto the threaded end 28 of the shaft 27.

To enable the brush 11 to float relative to the roadway, the pillow block unit 17 comprises a conventional pillow block .37 which is movably mounted within a housing 3S (FIGS. 5 and 6). The base 39 of the pillow block 37 is thus seen to be loosely mounted within the rear wall 41, the side walls 42, and the front walls 43 of the housing 3S as best illustrated in FIG. 6. It will be noted that the front walls 43 are spaced to receive the pillow block 37 therein and to enable vertical movement thereof. The pillow block 37 and thus the brush 11 is held in suspended relation by means of a spring 46 (FIGS. 3 and 5). The lower end of the spring is attached to the pillow block 37 and the upper end is attached to the outer end of an L-shaped support 47 (FIG. 3). By this arrangement, the brush is free to float with and engage the changing contour of the roadway. The arms 19 and 21 are secured at their one ends to the wall 41 of the housing 38, and the support 47 is carried by the housing 38.

Should it be desirable to protect the operators cab from leaves and other refuse thrown by rotation of the brush 11, a semi-circular curved shield 49 with side panels is shown mounted by a fastening unit 51 (FIG. 3) at each end thereof removably attached to the upper end of the upper arm 19. The shield is also provided with a pair of braces 52 (FIG. 2) which are attached at their outer free end to the mold board 13 for spacing and holding the shield 49 in a position where its inner surface is contiguous to the outer periphery of the brush 11.

To rotate the brush 11, a gasoline operated motor 53 (FIGS. 1 and 2) is provided which is mounted on a platform 54 supported by a trio of brace plates 56, 57 and 58, the latter being secured to the upper arm 19. Power from the motor 53 is transmitted through a gear reduction unit 5S (FIG. 4), with the output drive being provided at an output shaft 61. A chain belt 62 transmits the power from the output shaft 61 to a sprocket wheel 63 which is mounted on an axle 64 rotatably supported by a pair of pillow blocks 66 (FIGS. 2 and 4). The pillow blocks 66 are secured to a. plate 67 which is mounted on the outer ends of a pair of parallel arms 68 and 69. The arms are secured at their inner ends to the upper arm 19 (FIG. 2).

From the sprocket wheel 63, the drive is thereby transmitted through the axle 64 to a small sprocket 71 mounted also on the axle `64, thence by means of a chain belt 72 to another sprocket 73 secured to the stub shaft 13. By this means, the output of the motor, which is rated at approximately 2000 rpm. is geared down to approximately 150 r.p.m. for the rotation of the brush 11. It will be appreciated that a hydraulic motor (not shown) can be substituted for the gasoline operated motor S3, the former operable off of the hydraulic system Vof the motor grader 12.

To remove the brush 11 from its assembled position on the mold board 13, the operation is as follows. A stand (not shown) is rolled beneath the brush 11, the latter being in a raised position off a iioor or ground surface. The adjusting unit nut 36 (FIG. 3) of each shaft 27 is backed olf the threaded end 28 thereof, permitting the lower arm 21 to be pivotally lowered from its engagement with the lower edge 25 of the mold board 13.

Then, upon a lowering of the mold board 13, by the operator of the motor grader 12, the upper arm 19 can be rotated away from the upper edge 15 of the mold board 13. To remount the brush 11, the reverse of the dismounting procedure is followed.

Referring now particularly to FIGS. 7-9 inclusive, a modified bracket attachment is indicated generally at for supporting a rotary roller 80 instead of the brush 11. Parts of the bracket attachment 16' identical with those of the attachment 10 are indicated by the same reference numerals.

As the roller 80 engages a ground surface when in use, and does not rotate when in a raised, transport position7 .the motor and the attendant sprocket chain belt, and arm structure arrangement of the attachment of FIGS. 1-6 are eliminated. The basic structure of the pillow block 37, the upper arm 19 and hinged lower arm 21, and the adjusting unit with its shaft 27 function to support the roller 80 on the mold board 13.

It will Ibe noted, however, that as it is desirable to apply a downward pressure by the roller 80,. the pillow block 37 is not iioating. Thus, the upper arm 19 is connected by the gussets 20 directly to the block 37, and the lower arm 21 is hinged .by the shaft 22 also directly to the block 37.

A scraper blade 81 is provided for scraping foreign objects oi the surface of the roller 80, the blade 81 eX- tended transversely across the top of the roller S0. To yieldably hold the blade 31 against the roller 80, an arm S2 (FIG. 9) is pivotally connected at one end to a stub shaft 83 on the end of the blade 81. The other end of the arm 82 has a journal 84 entered into a tube 86 Welded to the upper end of the upper bracket arm 19. A compression spring 87 is secured to and extends between the stub shaft 83 and one of the gussets 20.

The demounting and remounting of the bracket attachment 10' is identical to that of the attachment 10. It is therefore seen that a generic bracket attachment for supporting on a motor grader mold .blade either a brush or a roller has been described hereinbefore, whereby .the motor grader is alternately and selectively usable for grading, rolling and/0r compacting, and sweeping.

Although a preferred embodiment and a modification thereof have been described herein, it should he remembered that various other modifications and alternate constructions can lbe provided without departing from the true spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A bracket attachment for supporting a rotatable device having opposed stub shafts on a motor grader mold `board having upper and lower edges, the attachment cornprising in combination:

pillow block means including a bearing for rotatably receiving one of the stub shafts, and including further a housing within which said pillow block means is vertically movable, and a spring unit suspending said pillow block means within said housing;

' first arm means secured to said housing and releasably engageable with one edge of the mold board; second arm means hingedly secured to said housing, and releasably engageable with the other edge of the mold board; and

means adjustably interconnecting said first and second arm means for moving said first and second arm means relative to each other.

2. A bracket attach-ment for supporting a rotatable device having opposed stub shafts on a motor grader mold board having upper and lower edges, the attachment comprising in combination:

pillow block means including a bearing for rotatably receiving one of the stub shafts, and including further a housing within which said pillow block means is vertically movable, and a spring unit suspending said pillow block means within said housing;

first arm Ameans secured to Said housing and releasably engageable with one edge of the Imold board;

second arm means hingedly secured to said housing, and releasably engageable with the other edge of the mold board; and

means adjustably interconnecting said first and second arm means including a jack screw one end of which is rotatably engaged with one of said arm means, and the other end of which is pivotally connected to the other of said arm means, whereby said jack screw maintains said first and second arm means in an adjusted relative position.

3. An attachment for supporting a rotatable device having opposed axially aligned stub shafts at each end thereof on a motor grader mold board having upper and lower edges, the attachment comprising in combination:

a pair of brackets of identical construction;

a shield adapted to cover the upper peripheral portion of the rotatable device secured to and extended between said brackets;

power means mounted on one of said brackets operably engaged with a stub shaft for rotating one of said stub shafts;

each bracket including:

pillow block means including a bearing adapted to rotatably receive one of the stub shafts and including further a housing within which said pillow block means is vertically movable, and a spring unit suspending said pillow block means within said housing;

first arm means secured to said housing and releasably engageable with one edge of the mold board;

second arm means hingedly secured to said housing and releasably engageable with the other edge of the mold board; and

means adjustably interconnecting said first and second arm means for moving said first and second arm means relative to each other.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,806,054 5/ 1931 Gardner 15-82 2,036,58 4/ 1936 Miller 37-145 3,136,078 6/1964 Renault 37-146 JACOB L. NACKENOFF, Primary Examiner. 

1. A BRACKET ATTACHMENT FOR SUPPORTING A ROTATABLE DEVICE HAVING OPPOSED STUB SHAFTS ON A MOTOR GRADER MOLD BOARD HAVING UPPER AND LOWER EDGES, THE ATTACHMENT COMPRISING IN COMBINATION: PILLOW BLOCK MEANS INCLUDING A BEARING FOR ROTATABLY RECEIVING ONE OF THE STUD SHAFTS, AND INCLUDING FURTHER A HOUSING WITHIN WHICH SAID PILLOW BLOCK MEANS IS VERTICALLY MOVABLE, AND A SPRING UNIT SUSPENDING SAID PILLOW BLOCK MEANS WITHIN SAID HOUSING; FIRST ARM MEANS SECURED TO SAID HOUSING AND RELEASABLY ENGAGEABLE WITH ONE EDGE OF THE MOLD BOARD; SECOND ARM MEANS HINGEDLY SECURED TO SAID HOUSING, 